This week I got an email from the Ortonville Historical Society about an upcoming farmers market and the packing of Miracle Boxes for overseas troops.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Miracle Boxes are named for Brandon graduate PFC Joseph Miracle. He was part of the 173rd Airborne, and at 22 years old, he gave his life defending his unit after being in Afghanistan for 35 days on July 5, 2007.
“He’s a native Ortonvillian, went to Brandon High School,” said his mother Judy Miracle. “He was the youngest of my kids, I have seven. And he was all bent on doing something for his country. We were proud of him.”
While I never knew Joseph, I have had the honor of getting to know his mother, Judy, over my years at the Citizen.
“Miracle boxes were named after him,” said Judy. “Louise Downs, who is the leader of the Miracle Boxes and The Desert Angel, she came to me at Joe’s funeral and asked if they could use his name, and I said sure. It has just evolved. It’s kind of a cool name to put on a box.”
Miracle boxes are care packages sent to troops actively serving overseas. The include things such as snacks or shelf-stable food, drinks, personal hygiene products, socks, pillows, pillow cases, recreational things such as activity books or playing cards, blank cards for them to send back to loved ones, and letters from area school children.
“One of the things I like to add are letters and notes from school kids,” she said. “I’ve had really good responses from guys over there, it kind of connected them to home.”
On August 31, The Desert Angel will be at the Ortonville Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., with the OCHS to collect cash or check donations to help ship Miracle boxes. Each box costs $25 to ship. Judy Miracle is also the president of the OCHS.
On September 7, there will be a Miracle box packing party at Old Town Hall, 486 Mill Street, Ortonville. Volunteers will be able to pack care packages for troops overseas, and there will be cards and letters for kids at the farmers market to fill out to include in the boxes. There are usually 30 or more boxes.
“The Historical Society is just collecting cost for the postage,” she said. “At the packing party, they will be asking for things like toiletries to pack in the boxes. It’s probably the first time we’ve done anything with the Miracle boxes. Tina and Alan Alligier have been doing a lot of research with the military room and the military displays, and they were interested in following up with a project.”
In addition to getting involved with the Miracle boxes, the OCHS Old Mill Museum has Joseph Miracle’s uniform in the military display room. The military room will be open during the farmers markets in Ortonville, housing uniforms, medals and other artifacts from local residents who served in the armed forces from 1990 to 2014. Admission to the Old Mill Museum is free.
What happened to Joseph Miracle is a tragedy, and it’s one I’ve heard about often in the seven years I’ve worked at the Citizen. One of the good and bad things about small towns is that they never forget people. And the way that Joseph Miracle is remembered, by helping other troops who share his passion for serving his country, will keep his memory alive for many years to come.
“One of the things you are concerned abut when you lose someone is that they’ll be forgotten and that people won’t mention their name anymore,” said Judy. “He’ll never be forgotten, and people won’t worry about saying his name. It’s always talked about at every one of those packing parties: Joe Miracle.”